Tiger wrote:so , I am a generation older than you and Doc RD.. and remember the Zoot Suit riots . East end against west .. led by the "Commercial gang but including all the street gangs in the East end fighting the West end led by the Alma Dukes.. Hockey connection ? John Ferguson age about 14.. 15 from east hastings was part of the "gang" was a rink rat and a good lacrosse player .. all wearing "Strides" or "Drape pants" black denims made by On Wo or Modernize tailors on Pender street.. No chinese involved.. The big connection was Joe Filippone.. who sponsored boxing in the East End.. I was just old enough to get in trouble .. and made the best "zipguns" in my dads basement ..

so , I am a generation older than you and Doc RD.. and remember the Zoot Suit riots . East end against west .. led by the "Commercial gang but including all the street gangs in the East end fighting the West end led by the Alma Dukes.. Hockey connection ? John Ferguson age about 14.. 15 from east hastings was part of the "gang" was a rink rat and a good lacrosse player .. all wearing "Strides" or "Drape pants" black denims made by On Wo or Modernize tailors on Pender street.. No chinese involved.. The big connection was Joe Filippone.. who sponsored boxing in the East End.. I was just old enough to get in trouble .. and made the best "zipguns" in my dads basement ..

Interesting story. Never heard that about Joe Filippone. The Filippone's of Joe's generation were friends with me grandad and that generation of my family. Jim Filippone, Joe's Brother was a close friend of my grandfather. My old man used to box at the Astoria there on Hastings, down in the basement where the likes of Dale Walters trained. Don't recall him ever talking about Joe promoting boxers though.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate

Jim Filippone, Joe's Brother was a close friend of my grandfather. My old man used to box at the Astoria there on Hastings, down in the basement where the likes of Dale Walters trained.

Jim won the golden gloves in 41.. then ran Eagle time delivery and Diamond taxi ( yep good bootleg booze ) they opened up Eagle time boxing club in the basement of the "offices" before the Penthouse was open on the same site.. they helped a lot of young kids in sports , mainly boxing at that time and then opened a boxing club on Commercial ( I forget the name ).. ok hockey related? Penthouse Club.. home away from home for visiting hockey teams . I met Stan Makita there .. the night before they were playing the Canucks ( maybe 71 ? ) .. They went out and beat the Canucks next night ..

Strangelove wrote:Looking over their lineup I have convinced myself the Leaves are going to completely SUCK this year.

Hmm. Looks to me like they're going to do better than the Canucks this year.

The Leaves have lost a lot of depth!

...So yeah, they've lost a lot of depth on both offense and defense = a few good injuries: Fuggetaboutit.

Saaaay... you're not some kind of Leaf-loving Leiweke-koolaid-swilling sickoid are ya Darren?

That was a pessimistic view of the Leafs...maybe accurate....Would you be willing to conduct a similar analysis of our Vancouver Canucks? Goaltending and defensive depth? Players added and subtracted? Age? Prediliction for injury? Results last year? Those are topics we should best avoid. I stand by my prediction... the Leafs do better than the Canucks this year.

I'm not a Leaf fan trolling if that's what you're asking I've been cheering for the Canucks since their first line was Dan Quinn between Linden and somebody-or-other Capuano. But I'm not a Leaf-hater as a general extension of being a Toronto hater either (I live here after all). If the Leafs do well and the Canucks do poorly I will quite happily jump on their bandwagon... and I confess I will enjoy the wails of anguish coming from this board.

darren wrote:Looking over their lineup I have convinced myself the Leaves are going to completely SUCK this year.

Hmm. Looks to me like they're going to do better than the Canucks this year.

The Leaves have lost a lot of depth!

...So yeah, they've lost a lot of depth on both offense and defense = a few good injuries: Fuggetaboutit.

Saaaay... you're not some kind of Leaf-loving Leiweke-koolaid-swilling sickoid are ya Darren?

That was a pessimistic view of the Leafs...maybe accurate....Would you be willing to conduct a similar analysis of our Vancouver Canucks? Goaltending and defensive depth? Players added and subtracted? Age? Prediliction for injury? Results last year? Those are topics we should best avoid. I stand by my prediction... the Leafs do better than the Canucks this year.

I'm not a Leaf fan trolling if that's what you're asking I've been cheering for the Canucks since their first line was Dan Quinn between Linden and somebody-or-other Capuano. But I'm not a Leaf-hater as a general extension of being a Toronto hater either (I live here after all). If the Leafs do well and the Canucks do poorly I will quite happily jump on their bandwagon... and I confess I will enjoy the wails of anguish coming from this board.[/quote]

Not a Leaf fan but I look forward to the Canucks sucking and the Leafs doing well......ok, not a Leaf fan.

I've lived in Toronto for 12 years and I still cheer for the Nucks only, thou im not a Leaf hater either. If you think the Leafs will be better than the Nucksthismyear you've definitely been smoking some of BC's finest, because they just aren't a good team.

I still laugh at everyone thinking doom and gloom for the Nucks, so much so that the worst team to make the playoffs (statistically speaking) since 2003 is going to be better than them. Good luck with that one.

darren wrote:That was a pessimistic view of the Leafs...maybe accurate....Would you be willing to conduct a similar analysis of our Vancouver Canucks? Goaltending and defensive depth? Players added and subtracted? Age? Prediliction for injury? Results last year? Those are topics we should best avoid. I stand by my prediction... the Leafs do better than the Canucks this year.

I'm not a Leaf fan trolling if that's what you're asking I've been cheering for the Canucks since their first line was Dan Quinn between Linden and somebody-or-other Capuano. But I'm not a Leaf-hater as a general extension of being a Toronto hater either (I live here after all). If the Leafs do well and the Canucks do poorly I will quite happily jump on their bandwagon... and I confess I will enjoy the wails of anguish coming from this board.

Merc.

Watch them ankles jumping between bandwagons.

...and Torontonians wonder why the rest of the country despises them, while the rest of the world largely ignores them.

WHy not? Florida desperately needs some offense. Gomez will be a good 3rd liner for them for damned cheap. And, he'll likely have 3 or 4 dominating games throughout the year, where he shows flashes of his former self.